Improvement in machines for rifling gun-barrels



W. au C. SELLERS. 'MACHINE 'FOR RIPLING GUN Bumm.

Patented-Main?, 1865.

me Noms reveals co. moro-Uma. wAsNmc-TQN, o. r:

UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE- WILLIAM SELLERS AND COLEMAN SELLERS, on PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYL- VANI-A, ASSIGNons- To wILLIAIII SELLERS a eo.

l IMPRON'EME- NT IN MACHINES FOR RIFLING GUN-BARRELS-l Specilicaiion forming part of Letters Patent No. 46,714, dated March 7, 1865.

'To all whom it 'may concern:

-chine forrin g gun-barrels in series dependent upon each other, se that the completlon of ino-- tionin one of the series shall put the next into operation, which, on its termination, shall start the third, and so on until the whole a-re completed, and that the starting of each motion or Series of motions shall be dependent upon thel absolute completion of the preceding motion, so that, should any accident prevent the completion of one motion of the series, the remaining motions will not be operated until the impediment sha-ll be removed second, to arrange the driving machinery which operates the riiiingrod so that, should the cut prove too heavy for the length of the rod, the drivingmotions will be disengaged and the machine will stop; and, third, to provide a certain means of clearing the cutters of chips and to furnish them with proper lubrication when at work.

- To explain the method'of carrying out the vobjects of our invention to enable any competent mechanic tohuild a machine on the principles, and to elucidate the theory of the methods proposed, we have hereto annexed drawings, which make part'otl this spcciiication, in whieh- I Figure 1 represents a-side elevation of a riding-machine; Fig. 2, sectional plan of carriage; Figs. 3, 4, and 5, positions ofthe shifting-motion at stand E; Fig. (i, end elevation of stand D; Fig. 7 end elevation of stand E, showing barrelturning machinery; Fig. S, riding-rod; Fig. 9, sectional view, showing clutch-box O; Fig. 10,'plan of belt-shifter; Fig. l1, sectional view of washing-box; Fig. 12,-sketch of an equivalent plan.

Similar letters on each relate to similar parts.

Referring to these drawings, A, Fig. ,1, is the bed of theniaehine. Upon this bed are placed three principal uprights, C, D, and E,

to carry the working parts of the maehine- The fir'stof these, C, carries the main. driving machinery and supports one end of the slidebar, upon which travels the riding-carriage. The Second one, D, sustains theother end of this bar, and contains part of the washing machinery for the cutters. The third one, E, has the barrel-holder and all the machinery for turning the barrel attached to it. At the ripright C are three pulleys, F, F', and,- F". Of these the middle one, F', is fast to the'shaft, and the two outside ones, F and F", are loose on the same'shaft. To these loose pulleys power is conveyed from a counter shaft by an open and a cross belt, passing through the arms of the belt-shifter motion K, this being the arrangement ot belt-shifter asl patented Ly Wm. Sellers December 16, 1862. The belt-shifter is so arranged that both belts can run simultaneously 011 the two loose pulleys, and either one can be shifted onto the fastpulley, thus running the fast pulley either forward or backward. The belt on F, however, isso arranged that the Shifter can never drive it entirely oit" of F onto F', but will always allowvit to lap a little ways onto'thc pulley F, so that F will never cease to run in the same direction during tlie operations of the machinery. Fast to thehub of pulley F is a pinion, G, gearing into which is the spur-wheel H on the shaft I.

Thus the continuous motion of the pulleyF' is imparted to the shaft I. The shaft I extends through the stands C and D to E, and there, at proper intervals, can be made? to operate some ot' the required seriesot motions. the Slide-bar L is the ritling-rod carriage M. The carriage 'M is driven by a screw, N, parallel with the bar L, and on a line with the axis of the drivin g-pulleys F F' F". The screw N receives its motion from the driving-pulley F' through a clutch, O, of peculiar construction. This clutch consists of a cylindrical box attached to the pulleyshaft. This box has a face-plate, 01, bolted to it. In the center of the plate O1 is an oblong opening. The screw N has a T-piece, O2, on its end, which iits the opening in the plate Ol, and is of the same thickness as the plate. When this T-piece or carrier O2 coincides with the plate O it will. be driven by it in the manner of a clutch; but

if it be pushed into the interior of the box O,

Upon

C and D, and an extension of it, N', continues as far as the stand E. The screw N is not held endwise by collars or shoulders in any of these stands, but is capable of sliding back or forth to a limited extent. It is, however, when at work, held in position by a ring, P, between l. collars on the screw N, this ring bein g attached to the two levers, Q Q. The levers Q have their fulcrums on the stand (l at It, and are united at their upper end by a knife-edge piece, S. This'knife-edge lits exactly a notch in the latch U, to which latch is adapted an adjustable spring, V, which tendsto hold it down firmly upon the knife-edge. The latch U-is also provided with two notches, W W. If the latch U be raised up by hand, the levers Q may be vibrated back or forth so as. to unf clutch the screw from the driving-pulley by forcing the carrier into the box O or pulling it'out of it, and it can be held in either of these positions bythe notches WW; but when the knife-edge vS is in the center notch, as is shown in .the drawing, the clutch O is iii-gear with the screw. The pressure of the. latch U upon the knife-edge must be so adj usted as to hold it in gear during the ordinary working of the machine; but under any undue strain it willraise the latch and force the lever Q into either of the notches W W, and thus uncouple the screw at 0. If the knife-edgev be made with its sides beveled equally in either direction, an equalstrain in either direction on the screw will force it. ont of gear 5 butif its sides be made steeper on one side than on the other, it may be made to resist a more severe strain in one direction than in the other; hence, if the riiiing-rod will bear more strain under tensions than under. thrusts, the knife-edge may y be adjusted so as to allow for this dierence.

This is one of the important features of our invention The carriage M, when at work, is mo-vcd back and 'forth bythe screw N, which screw receives its motion from the pulley F' 5 but if the carriage M meets with a greater resistance than the riding-rod will bear with safety, the strain acts directly upon the latch, the screw is disengaged at 0, and stops. The motion of vthe screw at either end of the stroke is re# versed by levers a and b. The latter, b, is attached to an adjustable bar, bl, so as to regulate the length of the stroke. lever b acts on the belt-shifter rod c, which extends the whole length'of the machine.

When the carriage M approaches the lever b, two rollers, 10 and 11, on carriage M move the lever and shift the belts, so as to reverse the motion of the screw, while at the end of the stroke the saine rollers operate the lever a, and this lever, through the rod d, shifts the driving-belt -onto the loose pulley, but does not move far enough to throw on the opposite `ried forward with c.

belt. Thus it stops the motion of the screw, but does not reverse its motion, as is the case at the other end of the stroke. Sliding on the end Nl of the screw N is a disk-brake, u, covered with leather. The brake is worked by a lever, t, and when the rod d is forced forward by the lever a a fork, d1, on the end of it operates the belt-shifter rod to throw oii the driving-belt, as has been stated, and a stop, d, presses against the end of -lever @and thus forces the brake-disk against the stand E, suddenly stopping the screw.

With this brake tightened, and both belts ofi' the driving-pulley, it is evident that the screw cannot be again started except by the action of some motion outside of that just de-.

scribed. This, then, is the first of a series of motions depending upon their own completion to put in operation the subsequent motions.

As we have before-said, the shaft I runs continually in one direction, regardless of the motion of the screwthatit is always driven by` the pulley F, whether the belt on F is partially engaged in driving the screw or not. Keyed to the end of the shaft l is a wheel, e, provided with internal teeth, forming aratchetwheel. (Sec Fig. 5.) By the side of e is a pawl-wheel, f, with a journal entirely through the stand E, and carrying a crank-plate, g, on its other end. The pawl-wheel f is provided with a stop, f1, on its outside, and a springpawl, f2. This pawl, whiehis designed to e11- gage in the teeth of the internal ratchet e, has a projection, f 3,- entircly beyond the outside of f. The spring tends always to force the pawl into the teeth, aud, as the wheel e continually revolves in the direction ofthe arrow, it would carry with itthe'pawl-wheel j'. Hinged to th'e stand E is an escapement, i, one projection'oi which rests on the pawl-wheel j', another, il, (see Fig. 5,) extends up toward the end of rod d, and the third, i?, projects down behind the pawl-wheel f. In the revolution of the wheel e, carrying with it thepawl-wheel f,the escapement i resting on the circumference of f, the

tail of the pawl will come in contact with the escapeinentt', and the pawl will be forced out of gear with the teeth in e simultaneously with the stop f1 coming in contact with the escapeinent and arresting the motions of the wheel f. But, should the escapement 'i be raised above the stop f1, the pawlf2 will be again driven into the teeth, and f will be car- As the stop flpasses under the projection i2 will force i down against the wheel f, so that, at the completion of one revolution of the wheel e', the wheel f will be stopped. Therefore, upon the liberation of the escapement the 'wheel f will make only one revolution and then stop. This is the second step in the series, and is started at the completion of the motion of the carriage M toward the stand D; for,` whenv the lever a moves the rod d, and thus stops the screw a, projection d3 passes behind thearm t" of the cscapement, and this starts the revolution off. This arrangement of the wheel e is essentially what was patented by WM. SELLERS, January 21, 1862.

l/Tflrbarrel to be rilled is held in a hol-V r ,.flow spindle, K, in stand E. This spindle is provided with a loose segmental wheel, I, to which is attached a pawl, mi. Fast to the spindle K is a ratchet-wheel, m', and a lockingplate, fn. Both of these have as many notches as there are to be grooves in the ritled barrel. lIn the present case there are three. Gearing with the segmental wheel l is a spur-segment, l", provided with a radial slot, p, in which works the crank-pin q of the crank-wheel g. These are so proportioned that one revolution of the crank-wheel will give to the wheel l a motion forward and back of a little more than one-third of a revolution. --The lock-plate n has a latch, o, falling into its notches, and thel tail `of this latch rests on the crank-wheel g. The crank-wheel is made in the form of a cam, so adjusted as tolift the latch out of the lockplate during one-third of its revolution, while during the saine one-third of a revolution it is throwing back the pawl 'm behind a new tooth in the wheel m', and during the remaining twothirds of its revolution the barrel is turned and the lockingcateh thrown into a notch at the end of the entire revolution. This is now the irst effect of the one revolution given to the wheel f, and ends with the stopping of that one revolution, the barrel being turned onethird of a revolution. In 4this step of the series, however, all motion would cease did not the completion of this motion put into operation some new movement.

To the end of the shifter-rod c is jointed a bellcrank, u, with three arm's "at right angles to one another. When the rod C has been moved by the rod el one of these arms will stand vertically (to this the rod c is attached) and the other'two will be horizontal. To one 'of them, al, is attached a vertical rod, a', sliding in a box in stand E, and having at its lowerk end a hook, so placed that when f is revolving and has nearly completed its revolution a projection on it at s will hook onto it, drag it down, and pass it. In doing so the bell-crank is pulled into the position shown inFig. 3, and the 'belt is shifted onto the fast pulley to impart the back motion to the carriage M. At the same time the arm u2 of the bell-crank lifts the end of rod d up, liberating the brake and holding the projection d3 above the escapeinent-lever. Then, when the` carriage M haspasscd away from the lever a the rod l isrestored to its normal position, and the end of rod l is dragged oil' from the arm u2, thus skipping over the escapement wit-hout touehin g it, and falling into position shown in Fig. l, ready for the repetition of its motions.

Attached to the wheel f is a cam-wheel, t,

and on thisl rests a lever, t. This lever is to` work the feed, and is o"n a shaft, t2, which extends past the st'and l) a short distance, and carries at its other end a T-shaped lever, Z. This lever Z is what imparts the feed to the cutters in the riding-rod, as will be presently shown. The riding-rod and cutters diifer in no respect from those used in the government armories. It consists of a hollow rod, 1, (sec Fig. 8,) with openings near one end for the cutters 2 2 2. The cutters are held in by springs, and within the rod l is a cone, 3, attached to a rod extending through rod l up to the feedscrew of the riding-carriage M. I-n the carriage M is a spindle, M1. To this a riing-rod is attached, and on it is a pinion, M2. This pinion is moved by a rack, M3. Sliding vertically in guides on the side of the carriage M, at the lower end of the slidingrack M3, is swiveled a box, M4. This box slides on the twistfbar X. The angle which the twist-bar Xmakes with the slide-bar L isvvariable by au adjustment at one end of it in the slot in the head C. As the carriage M travels back and forth on the bar L the twist-bar imparts to the spindle M, and consequently to the ritling-rod, the twist wanted in the grooves.

Attached to the rack M3 is an adjustablel grooved piece, M5, in the grooves of which is tted a block swiveled to the cross-slide MG. This cross-slide has linked to it two levers, M1 M", which carry a collar, and inside of it is the hub of the ratchet feed-wheel M9. The hub of this wheel is the rest of the feed-screw M9, and is what moves the cone 3 in the riding-rod to adjust the cutters. This cone is dragged back and forth a fixed amount by the slot in the grooved piece M5 at each stroke ot' the riing rod, and thus produces Athe variable depth to the riilegrooves required in some,

.the adjusting-cone, and. thus give clearance to the cutters on the back-stroke. The feed is given to the cutters by a pawl, M, attached to avertical slide, MH. This slide is forcedv down by. a spring, but its position is adjusted by a screw, M15. This vertical slide is so placed that when the carriage M is at the end of its stroke, and has stopped, it is immediately over the .T-sh'aped lever z. The feed is thus given during the time that the carriage is at rest, and as'the barrel is being turned by the cam t operating the levers t z. This, then, is also one of the important features of the invention, as has been stated, in the object aimed at.

The cutters are freed from their chips and proper lubrication insured by means of washing-boxes at both ends of the barrel-one being within the stand D and the other shown at the end of the barrel at 20. They consist of annular cylindrical chambers, (see Fig. 11,)

with slots corresponding with the cutters within rifling-rod on the inner sides. der pressure is conveyed to them through pipes on the bed from apump, 2l, driven from the constantlymoving shaft I at 22. As the cutters emerge at either end of the barrel they come in contact with a flood of oil, which, striking the cut-ters, loosens up the chips and carries them away. The rod, too, passing through the washingbox in thc stand D, carries with it 'a great deal of oil into the barrel, and thus lubricating it ready for the cut.

From the above it will be seen that the theory of operation of a machine built on our plan is in providing a continuous motion of one part of the machine, fromwliich continuous motion the intermittent motions are de` rived.

The separate and distinct motions are put in operation by the completion of some previous motion, and cannot take place unless the previous motion has performed its required function.

In a machine having a main shaft, upon which are certain cams, cranks, or tappets,

.the continuous motion of such a shaft vmay be ease is totally different, and its truetheory can only be understood by comparison with such an instance as the above, for with us, the continuous motion puts into operation some one of the necessary movements, and then no other movement can take place until the absolute completion of this one operation, which in turn [starts the next one, and so on through the whole series.

We use a screw `to drive the rifiing-carriage,.

so as to insure a constant velocity to= the cutters in the barrel and to enable the speed`of eut lto be carried to thc utmost that the cutters will stand. By stopping the motion of the screw entirely during the barrel-turning, Ste., the rifling-rod is made no longer than is absolutely necessary to reach through the barrel; hence, this principle of stopping the carriage entirely is ail-important feature of our invention, as it enables us to effect the subsequent movements with a rapidity consistent with the durability of the parts and yet to move the carriage also at a velocity as great as the cutters will. stand.

' In a riding-machine' driven by a crank the cutters move more rapidly during the middle oftheir stroke than at the ends, and consequently the number o f strokes per minute must be limited to what the cutters will bear during the rapid part of the st-roke, while, if .the same velocity could, be, kept up during the whole stroke, (as is the case in our machine,) the number of :strokes per minute would be greater.

One of the greatest troubles with riiiing-ma-- chines has always been the breaking or bend- .ing of the riiling-rod from its catching in the barrel, the motion of the vmachine continuing. 1n our arrangement this is prevented entirely in the manner specified, the screw always disengaging itself when subjected to'too great a strain.

Our method of cleaning cutters from the chips offers peculiar advantages over the old Way of brushing, the brushes being cut away by the chips, and the edges of the cutters are very uncertain in their action, while, in our plan, the jets striking the cutters loosen up and carry away the chips, besides insuring the most thorough lubrication to the cutters.

In the above specification we have described certain devices which fulfill the objects of our invent-ion, and have referred to these devices only in explaining the theory upon which it is based; but it must be evident to any intelligent mechanic that these devices may be altered without aiecting the theory. Thus the carriage is moved by a screw to accomplish a certain object conveniently, said object being to impart a uniform mot-ion to the riding-carriage, to be able to regulate thelength of the stroke, to provide a means of stopping the motion ofthe carriage entirely during the barrelturning, and to provide a means whereby an extra strain on the cutters may be made to stop the machine. It', for instance, we were t0 attach to the carriage a rack, and to drive this rack back and forth by a pinion, the motion would be a uniform one, capable of being adjusted in length of stroke by a belt-shifter, and it could be stopped at the end of the stroke to admit of the subsequent movements as readily as the screw. That it can also be made to disen gage itself under any undue strain can be easily demonstrated.

In Fig. 12 We have shown a rack, a3, which can be attached to the carriage. Gearing into it is a pinion,- b. This pinion is driven by another one, c, on the pulley-shaft. b3 is held in a frame, and can vibrate around the wheel c3. Hence it can be made to drive the rack, or it could be vibrated out of gear with the rack in either direction,.as is shown by the dotted lines. is attachedasegment having notches init, e, f', and g?. Into the center notch aknife-edge latch -isl fitted, with aAspring-pressure to hold it in place. This will measure the force of cut, and an undue strain will pull the segment-notch away from this knifeedge. The pinion b will vibrate out of gear in either direction, so that, whether We use a screw or rack, the theoryot' operation is the same.

It is also evident that the devices for starting the various motions in the series, and the machinery for performing those motions, may be modified to an almost endless extent, and yet the theory of operation remain the same.

We are also aware that jets of oil have been used for lubricating and washing the ritlingcutters both on horizontal and vertical machines; but in no instance has the riing-rod entered a chamber sufficiently small to produce a strong longitudinal current in addition to the radial ones produced by the jets, nor has any attempt been made to produce a strong To the frame which carries this wheel y ,the specific devices des current of oil over the cutters at both ds of the'barrell for the purpose of cleaning the chips. As thefriing-eut will be 'nf made when pulling'upon the rod, and not `ili`j the direction of thrust, the most efficient wash# ing apparatus should be placed at the termination of the heaviest eut. It is possible one washing pparatus such as we havedescribed, whenl` placed at the point indicated, might be found sufficient. Hence wewish Ait clearly understood that We do not limit our invention to Vcribed in elucidating itstheory; but l lWhat we do'elaim as new, and desire to se'- "eure by Letters Patent, is@

. 1.l Arranging the movements of a machine for 'riding gun-barrels in such a manner that they shall take in a series or order, the starting of each one of the series being dependent -stantially oftheseries, substantial] y as and for the pur. pose specified.

A 2, Stopping' the motion of the riding-rod at WM.` SELLERS. COLEMAN SELLERS.

Witnesses vupon the final movement of the previous one THEo'DoRE BERGNER, FRANK LEWIS- 1 

